The Night Shift
by Incy Little Spider
Summary: A young bored nurse waits impatiently for someone to visit the centre while taking the night shift. But during the night she gets a certain visitor who she'll never forget again, no matter how desperately she tries.


The young woman stood behind the counter, staring fixedly at the automatic doors and waiting impatiently for a trainer to come wandering in, seeking help. The Chansey next to her was dropping in and out of sleep and she knew she should tuck it into bed soon. Whenever she suggested that it should get some rest, it would look extremely offended and ignore her.

She heard the familiar sound of the last ferry for the night announcing its arrival at the Vermillion City port. She felt a bit guilty for perking up.

After a few minutes of waiting, the automatic doors zipped open and a teary-eyed young boy came wandering in. He was cradling a sickly looking Meowth in his arms and was sniffling uncontrollably. The Chansey immediately snapped out of its doze and hurried over around the counter to examine it.

"P-p-poisoned!" The boy wailed as the Meowth let out a gurgling cry.

"No need to cry. We can fix him up good as new," the young woman said kindly as the boy continued to sob.

"You just return him to his ball and we'll make him better in no time at all," she instructed and in the boy, wiping his nose on his sleeve, quickly returned the spluttering Meowth to its ball.

The Chansey rubbed the boy's back sympathetically as they waited for the Meowth to heal. None of them noticed as the automatic doors slid open and the shadowy figure that stumbled inside and collapsed into the nearest chair.

"See! All better!" The young woman said brightly, passing the ball back into the boy's hands. For good measure, she dug a brightly coloured sweet out of a jar and handed it to the still extremely shaken boy.

"Look after yourself out there," she said and the boy nodded weakly, wandering back outside, holding the poké ball tightly in his hand. The Chansey clucked its tongue in a concerned way and returned to its post behind the counter. The young woman yawned and rubbed her eyes a bit. She looked around and jumped slightly when she saw the huddled figure sitting one of the seats. The shadow was clutching its stomach and talking to its self.

Thinking at first it might be one of the pet's from the Fan Club she frowned at it.

"Shoo! Get out!"

The shape put its head up and she saw immediately that it wasn't a Pokémon at all but a young girl around fourteen. Her face was grimy and deathly pale and she was extremly thin to the point of looking skeletal. The Chansey gave a little squeak of fright.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I thought you were…never mind. What's the matter?" She cried as she hurried over to the girl, helping her to her feet. The girl didn't answer but whispered something low and intelligible under her breath. As soon as the young woman was near enough she saw immediately what the matter was. Under her dirty clothes the girl's stomach bulged in the obvious sign of pregnancy.

"…think me water's broke…" the girl muttered to herself. The young woman's jaw dropped and the Chansey's eyes bulged out of its head. Why on earth had the girl come all the way here? Nearly all pregnant women in Kanto had their births at home with a nurse from the local Pokémon Centre right by their side.

Travelling all the way to the Centre itself was very unusual.

Panicking slightly, she led the girl over past the counter and into the emergency ward at the back.

"Chansey, could you look after her as I call someone?" She fretted as she nearly sprinted back to the front desk. She was so busy, leafing through her little phone book she barely noticed the way the young girl recoiled away from the Chansey's touch.

After ten seconds of searching she finally found it. Sweat broke on her brow as she dialed the number of the other nurse in town.

"Pickup, pickup, pickup…" She begged as the phone rang for what seemed like hours.

"…H-h-hello?" A sleepy voice yawned from the end of the line.

"It's me, Lila! You've got to get in right away!" She nearly screeched down the phone. She heard the other nurse drop something in surprise and a barely muffled curse.

"What's the matter? Is it a decapitation? Or has someone been drained by a Zubat?" She replied, her voice suddenly alert and full of authority.

"No, no, no! A girl's come in and she's going to have a baby!" She replied as there was a sudden loud shout from the next room. Shooting a terrified look behind her she heard a brief gasp of surprise from the phone and next minute the nurse had hung up.

In record time the other nurse had come bustling in. Feeling an immediate sense of calm, the young woman led the more experienced nurse into the ward out back. The girl was lying on her back and her knees pointing to the ceiling. She had a pained, frightened look on her face that didn't disappear as she saw the two women hurrying to her side.

"Go get me some gloves and blankets please," the other nurse said sharply but the Chansey had already beaten her to the job. The other nurse snapped on the gloves and put the blankets on the bedside table.

"You have to control your breathing, honey," she said kindly but the girl seemed to not hear her.

The young woman looked on in half wonder, half disgust as she looked at the wailing girl. The long hours passed in screeches, panic and blood…the girl ignoring all commands given to her, lost in her own world of pain.

Dawn was coming as the finally the newborn came into the world. The girl's head lolled back into the pillow and she was finally quiet. Not even bothering to wipe the sweat from her eyes, the young woman quickly checked to see if she was still okay. She was as pale as paper, was sweating profusely and her heartbeat was faint. Feeling panic run through her again she turned to the other nurse.

"She's lost a lot of blood," the other nurse said worriedly as she wrapped the gurgling baby into the blankets.

"But at least the baby seems o…ERRRUUGGHHHH!" She broke off into a cry of utter repulsion dropping the newborn back onto the bed as if it were contaminated. The young woman stared at her in shock.

"What on earth's the matter with you?" She said as she hurried back to pick up the baby. She looked at it more closely as the other nurse made gagging noises.

"Oh, how REVOLTING!" She screeched dropping the baby onto the bed again, feeling her stomach churn. The Chansey stared at them both and when she went to examine the baby a sad, solemn look crossed its face.

"What is it, what is it?" The young woman whimpered, stumbling away. The other nurse, apparently recovering from her shock, took a few steps closer. The baby's skin was a sickly, slimy yellow. Two moist tiny eyes one bigger than the other, set deeply into its head glistened up at them. It nose was long and drooped over its lower lip. It made pathetic squawking noises. Its skull was lumpy and misshapen and one of its arms was crumpled up uselessly against its side.

After a few minutes of staring at the monstrosity the other nurse stumbled over to deadly quiet girl.

"What's your name, honey?" She said hoarsely as the girl stared, glassy-eyed at the ceiling. For what seemed like ages she made no sound and it seemed like she wouldn't answer. Then her lips twitched and she said so quietly they all had to strain their ears to hear…

"L…Lostelle."

The baby squirmed slightly at her feet. The other nurse looked at the girl for a few moments.

"Who did this to you?" She asked her voice dropping to a whisper. The girl slowly shook her head and gave out soft protesting noises. As the nurse patted her arm sympathetically she screwed her eyes shut and shook her head more fiercely.

The two nurses glanced at each other as the girl fell quiet once more, staring fixedly at the ceiling. They began to look for potions and medicines to help fight infections and to stem the blood flow. The Chansey, apparently the only one out of the three who was not completely revolted by the baby, carried it over to a nearby cot, normally used to store recovering Pokémon.

"Please, honey, you have to drink this to get better," the other nurse begged as she tried to force the potion down the girl's throat. She seemed to not notice.

"Don't…want…to get…better," she informed them as they both tried to pry her jaw open. The minutes ticked away and her heart beat grew fainter and fainter by the second. Her eyes rolled up towards the back of her skull and she began to mutter delusional things under her breath.

"…didn't listen…didn't listen…such…_lovely music_," she whispered, her head rolling from side to side, sweat pouring off of her forehead.

Finally as her life drifted away she looked at them both clearly for the first time, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Kill it for me, kill it for me please," she begged as the baby cawed from its cot. The other nurse's lower lip was trembling as she tried once again to force the potion into her mouth.

"Tell Daddy…I'm sorry I didn't listen…"

The young woman buried her head into the other nurse's shoulder as the girl's last breath escaped her lips and her whole body shuddered then finally lay deadly still.


End file.
